Tom Brady retired from the NFL for a second time during the 2023 offseason. It appears that, this time, his decision is final.
The 2023 NFL season has kicked off, and Brady is not on an active roster. He has seemingly spent the summer picking up new activities and hobbies in which he can invest his time during retirement. That includes becoming a minority owner of the Raiders, working with and acquiring a stake in English soccer team Birmingham City FC and, most recently, joining Delta Airlines in an advisory role.
Indeed, it seems Brady has lined up plenty to keep busy during his retirement, but one of his positions interests NFL fans more than others. That would be his eventual role as a broadcaster for Fox's football coverage.
Brady agreed to a long-term contract with Fox to become a color commentator for the network in 2022. The deal didn't start right away, but it ensures the network will be able to utilize Brady as part of its No. 1 broadcast team if it desires to do so.
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But when will Brady make his way into the broadcast booth? Here's what to know about his contract, how it works and when we can expect him to be a part of Fox's NFL coverage.
Tom Brady's Fox contract
Brady's contract with Fox is reportedly a 10-year pact worth a whopping $375 million, per Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. The deal will make Brady easily the highest-paid color analyst on NFL broadcasts, surpassing the $18 million-per-year figure shared by CBS' Tony Romo and ESPN's Troy Aikman.
Brady's contract will more than double the total value of Romo's 10-year, $180 million deal and is worth more than quadruple the $90 million Aikman is making over his five-year deal with ESPN. So, suffice to say Brady changed the market for color commentators, and he did so without having called a game.
Not only is Brady making more than other color commentators, but his contract compares favorably to the recent contracts signed by NFL quarterbacks. His $37.5 million average annual value would rank tied for 13th among current signal callers with Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers, while his total contract value is second to only Patrick Mahomes' $450 million deal.
Of course, it should be noted that Brady's contract with Fox hasn't started yet. Part of the unique structure of their partnership was that Brady was allowed to join the network after his playing career ended. So, the 10-year term didn't begin immediately; it was just agreed to in principle, and Brady can begin the deal whenever he is ready.
Naturally, that has created questions about when exactly Brady will join Fox, especially with his playing days now over.
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When is Tom Brady joining Fox?
Brady revealed on his "Let's Go!" podcast with Jim Gray and Larry Fitzgerald that he is planning to take the 2023 NFL season off and enter the broadcast booth in 2024.
"I was very blessed to play for as long as I did and I loved it," Brady said. "Now I get to see other guys do it, and I also get to see football from a different perspective. I'll be on Fox next year, so I have a chance to really sit back and watch and learn a different career."
Brady seemed to emphasize that he wants to spend most of the 2023 NFL season watching the game and preparing for his role in the booth. He also explained he is enjoying getting a chance to be a fan of the sport after 23 years of playing.
"I'll be able to really watch this year with kind of a different eye," he said. "I used to watch it from the lens of a quarterback. Now I see it more from broadcasting, but also as a fan, and then also still from a quarterback. So maybe a few different perspectives to learn, which will be a really fun thing."
Either way, it looks like Brady's plans are to join Fox during the 2024 season. Perhaps he will try to get a trial run in late in the 2023 season if he feels comfortable doing so, but he won't be on the network's top broadcasts for at least another season.
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Tom Brady career earnings
Brady retired as the NFL's all-time leader in career earnings. He made $332,962,392 from his collective NFL contracts and was one of just two quarterbacks to have exceeded $300 million in career earnings at the time of his retirement; Aaron Rodgers ($305.6 million) and Matthew Stafford ($300.8 million) were the others.
That said, Brady's contract with Fox is set to exceed the value of his NFL career earnings by a little more than $42 million. He also will be earning that salary over a period of 10 years; his NFL earnings occurred over a 23-year period.
Tom Brady net worth
Tom Brady has a net worth of $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Much of this stems from his NFL earnings, but he has been able to supplement his income with numerous endorsement deals and his companies, the most notable of which is his lifestyle and performance brand TB12.
Now, Brady is adding some TV-related revenue to his portfolio. As such, it's fair to expect his net worth to increase once his contract with Fox officially begins.
